The Death of Gray Fullbuster
by Wanderingidealism
Summary: SPOILERS FOR FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 334. DID ANYONE ELSE SOB LIKE A BABY WHEN THAT HAPPENED? BECAUSE I DID AFTER FLIPPING MY SH*T. NONE OF MY OTP's SURVI(VE TO REPRODUCE. THEY ALL DIE HORRIBLE, PAINFUL, SLOW DEATHS. (If GaLe ends up the same way, or NaLU, I may rage/quit on liking anyone period. Anyway, summary: The aftermath of the events of 334. The guild dynamic has changed.


_Fairy tail is the mental property of Hiro Mashima._

_Based on the events of chapter 334._

_If he's dead, may Gray Fullbuster Rest in Peace. _

_If not, yaaye?_

It took months of yelling his name in battle for it to really sink in. Months of yelling at empty corners fro stripping, just to realize he wasn't there to yell back. The guild was quieter without the daily fights between Natsu and his rival; only empty, hollow punches being thrown in an effort to regain a sense of normalcy in the guild after the fight.

_Juvia's anguished shouts carried over the ruined city, loud enough for everyone to hear. No one knew what happened until the very end, when the final dragons dropped, and the Rogue of the future died. Then, all of Fairy Tail dropped to its knees to join the shaking Water mage, in a torrent of tears the reached the sky._

Team Natsu, down one member, didn't know how to function, continuing to accept missions as if just going through motions; Natsu, for months after his rival's death, tried smiling as he used to; it as he who often started the brawls that came after the death. They tried to pretend as if they'd moved on, but it was painfully obvious they hadn't. The four remaining members of the strongest team in Fairy Tail often took separate missions now, unable to face orking together after their team dynamic had so drastically changed.

But even his happiness was only skin deep. Even his punches were thrown hollowly, with no one there to taunt him.

When he shouted, once, around dinnertime, for Gray to come join the brawl, everyone stopped and sucked in a breath.

Realizing what he said, Natsu clammed up and ran from the guild, slamming the door to his house and sinking to the floor.

_She placed his head on her lap, her blue hair framing her face as rain poured down around her, creating rivers around the rubble in the streets. She couldn't stop seeing his head snap back as the last beam hit him directly in the face, nor could she look away from the gaping wound. She didn't care how stained her dress was getting with brain matter and blood, all that mattered was it was _his _blood staining her dress. His blood, instead of hers, for one moment's distraction that should have been her death._

_ It was all her fault, and she couldn't bear it._

Perhaps the greatest mourning came from Juvia, who was present at the death. No one could help but notice she had shifted back into her old way of dress, and that the rain, which had stopped following her since Gray defeated her, had returned; as a result, she often was out on missions. When she was home though, torrential downpours were frequent reminders of her misery.

Erza and Lucy had heard her screaming, one night, and rushed to their friend's room. She found the water mage sobbing on the floor, clutching a man's shirt as if it were a life line.

"Juvia? Are you all right?" Erza asked, kneeling beside her friend.

"I can't stop seeing him! I can't stop seeing him dead!" the mage sobbed, and Lucy rushed to her side.

The three girls sat and cried the entire night, and no other words were spoken.

_She never found out what he tried to say to her, before his life was torn away. She never found out, though she suspected (hoped) it was that he loved her. She could never escape the sight of his head snapping back as the final beam hit, the sight of his body writing as bolt after bolt burned chunks of flesh from his body._

_ Could never escape the sounds of her screams as she woke up, in he following months, the visions chasing her into her dreams. She could never forgive herself for tearing the beloved ice-make mage from the guild._

_ Could never forgive herself, For letting Gray Fullbuster die._

She had contemplated leaving the guild, unable to cope with her grief. She thought about it every night, while every day her friends tried to cheer her up.

The night before she made her decision, Juvia had a dream. She was on a snowy plane, on a mountain top. Before her there was nothing, but behind her was a bright light…

She turned to find Gray standing shirtless, as if unaffected by the cold. He was fully healed, and smiling. She ran to him and embraced him, and he whispered his love into her ears.

"I loved you Juvia, I still do, and I always will… but you have to quit being so gloomy," he said, as Juvia sobbed into his chest, "I'd like to see you smile again, even though I'm dead. Besides, if you're gloomy all the time, then the clouds won't go away, and then you'll never see the sky again, right? So Move on Juvia, move on," he whispered, feather light into her ear.

But it could not last, such a sweet dream. With a final kiss she woke, for once not screaming, in her room. She stared out the window into a beautiful dawn and decided to move on, like Gray-sama had told her to. The guild should be celebrating Gray's life, not mourning his death! So she dressed herself, for once in the bright, cheery clothes she wore before, and hurried to the guild.

_Juvia threw open the doors to the guild, a bright smile on her face. A few people fell from their seats, and others spat out whatever booze they had been drinking._

_ "We should be celebrating, not mourning," Was all Juvia said._

_ "Why?! He's dead!" Natsu snapped, glaring._

_ "Because he wouldn't want us to be held down by his death. Juvia knows Gray-sama would have wanted us to move on and be happy. He wouldn't want to have died and left behind a gloomy guild, because that isn't the Fairy Tail he called home!" Juvia said, standing proudly before Natsu, as if in challenge._

_ "Juvia is right! We've been doing this mourning thing all wrong," Gajeel said, standing up and slamming his tankard into the table._

_ "We should celebrate his life, not mourn his death! Because that's the way of Fairy Tail!" Cana shouted, punching a straw into a keg of ale, and slamming it onto the table._

_ Natsu, finally understanding, grinned madly, and punched Elfman in the face, with gusto. Happy flew around with Lily and Charle, who laughed for the first time in weeks._

_ For the first time in months, no one cried. No one paused mid sentence when Gray's name was mentioned. The guild drank, fought, and made merry, every toast to Gray's life and every punch thrown with gusto. The men stripped in Gray's honor (until Mira Jane Punched Makarov through a wall, stating, with a smile, That perverts would not receive any more booze). _

_ Kegs were emptied, and stories told about the famous Ice-make mage. Songs were belted all around the guild, and the entire guild made merry for the first time in months._

_ And they all woke up with a hangover that lasted nearly two days._

_ Mavis watched the guild with joy, relieved to find her guild so happy again, as Fairy Tail was meant to be. Beside her, unseen to most, sat a shirtless, black haired mage, a smile plastered on his face, as tears of joy ran from his eyes._

_ He laughed at his guild, proud to have been a part of it during life, and happier to have died protecting part of it._

_ When you are a guild, you laugh together, live together, fight and breathe together. But Sometimes you die for one another, and when that happens it's the duty of the guild to remember what you have done in life. It's the duty of your guild, your nakama, to carry on your story, keep your memory alive, for in doing so they keep your spirit alive. It's up to them to celebrate your life._

_ And then the dead will never be truly forgotton._

_AN- I GUESS THIS CHAPTER IS PRETTY IRRELEVANT NOW. THANKS URTEAR._


End file.
